He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
by earthprincess4
Summary: Edward has always had 3 best friends: Bella, Emmett, and Jasper Swan. Growing up they were inseparable until divorce ripped them apart. Now all they have is summertime each year. Coming of Age story between E/B. Longer summary inside **PickAPicChallenge**


**Pick A Pic Challenge  
Title: **He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not**  
Penname: **earthprincess4**  
Banner: **45**  
Rating/ Disclaimer: **M/I don't own Twilight or the characters. No copy write infringement intended**.  
Summary: **Edward has always had three best friends: Bella, Emmett, and Jasper Swan. Growing up they were inseparable until divorce ripped them apart. Now all they have is summertime each year. This is a coming of age story about how Edward goes from seeing Bella as his best friend to realizing he's in love with her**.  
To see all the stories that are a part of this contest please visit: www .fanfiction-challenges. blogspot. com**

**A/N: Since I very rarely ever write a story without some sort of musical inspiration this story was no different. The song below pretty much sums up this entire story. I highly suggest listening to it at some point. "How Did I Fall In Love With You" by Backstreet Boys**

**Also, I'm sure as a Twilight fan we have all seen the Vanity Fair photo shoot pictures. Since the banner I chose for this story had many of the VF photos in it, I used some of those favorite pictures to inspire many of the scenes. I'm sure you'll be able to catch a few of them. :)**

******Thanks sister_liz for all your help in editing this story as well as the other. I truly appreciate you stepping in to help.**  


**Warning: There is virgin sex in this story**

**EPOV**

The year I turned thirteen was the year my entire world changed. It all started the summer of 1985. Everything seemed fine. It was just a typical beginning of a summer. By the end of the summer, everything would change.

I lived in a small town in Washington called Forks. I've lived here my whole life. I grew up with the same people and nothing ever seemed to change.

Jasper and Emmett Swan have been my best friends since we were very young. Bella is their little sister. Well, she's not much of a little sister. There's only about eleven months separating her and Jasper. Emmett is the oldest. I became friends with Jasper in kindergarten. We didn't even know we lived next to each other until we were dropped off at the same spot by the bus on our first day of school. We have been best friends ever since. Emmett became my good friend too.

Bella on the other hand, followed us around most of our childhood. We always tried to get rid of her, but she was relentless. After a while, we all got used to her being around so it just became normal for the four of us to be together.

Their parents are Charlie and Renee Swan. Charlie has been the police chief of our small town forever. He took his job very seriously. Renee worked at a local diner as a waitress. She also took her job seriously and worked long hours.

My parents were Carlisle and Esme Cullen. My dad was the local doctor. He worked long hours too, but he made up for it during the time he was home. My mom, I guess you could say was a stay at home mom. It's not like I needed to be taken care of anymore, but she still stayed home. Most of the time she would work on scrapbooks or numerous other craft projects during her time at home by herself.

There is this large field separating our homes, which really isn't used for anything. There are a few trees scattered about and quite a few wild daisies growing in it. Towards the back of the field, are more trees, which lead deep into the forest. Many summers the four of us would go exploring in those trees. We'd catch tadpoles in the creek. We'd build forts out of sticks. We'd pretend there were trolls or monsters and we had to battle them with our pretend swords. We'd play tag or hide-and-seek. Some nights if it was warm enough, we'd even camp out in the field. One summer, Bella's dad Charlie even made us a swing hanging from one of the trees. This field was our playground. It was our sanctuary.

Bella had a special connection to this field for some reason. It didn't matter if it was raining, snowing, or even one hundred degrees outside, she would always be in that field. I remember staring out at her from my bedroom window one Christmas when it was snowing really hard. She was out there making snow angels and spinning amongst the snow coming down. I always thought she was a little strange.

"He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me…" I listened to Bella chant the familiar phrase, while sitting in the midst of the daisies in the middle of the field.

"He loves you not," I teased. I reached around her and plucked the book out of her lap. Bella threw the flower to the ground and hopped to her feet to chase me down. I laughed as I ran from her and taunted her with her book.

"Give it back, Edward!" she shouted.

"Nope, I think I'll keep it."

"Edward," she whined, making me laugh. She was always so much fun to tease. I moved the book from hand to hand as she tried to grab it from me.

"Who were you asking the flowers about?" I taunted. "Does Bella have a little crush on a boy? Who is it, Bella? Jake. James. Maybe it's Mike. You've always had a crush on Mike." She glared at me and clenched her jaw in anger. I smirked, knowing exactly what she was going to do. In a flash she jumped on my back and tackled me to the ground. Even though I could easily overtake her, I always let her win for some reason. It's been a game we've played since we were really little. I always let her win at everything.

She straddled me with a fierce, determined look on her face. I just chuckled as I continued to keep the book from her. She's learned my tricks though. She grabbed my arm and yanked the book free.

"You are such a jerk," she accused, hitting me lightly with her book.

I sighed, looking up at her face. "I know. But you still love me, right?" She rolled her eyes, mumbling something under her breath while she climbed off of me. I continued to laugh at her frustration. It was so much fun getting her riled up.

She plopped back down on the ground next to me and opened her book once again. I sat up, picking at the grass. "Where are your brothers?" I asked.

"I don't have a clue."

"They were supposed to meet me out here to play football."

"Then maybe you should be patient and wait for them," she suggested sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at her.

"What are you reading?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

She sighed and dropped the book to her lap. "Nothing at the moment," she answered with an angry tone. "I keep getting interrupted."

"You're in a bad mood aren't you?"

She huffed and fell back on the ground. "I'm sorry. I'm just not having a good day."

"Why? What's wrong?" I asked with concern.

She sat back up and forced a smile. "It's nothing. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"It looks like my brothers are here," she pointed out. I turned my head, seeing Jasper and Emmett walking across the field. I hopped up and met them half way.

"Where've you guys been?" I asked.

"We had chores to finish," Jasper explained.

"We also had to wrap birthday gifts for your party tomorrow," Emmett reminded.

"What did you get me?" I asked, hoping for a hint.

"Like we're that stupid," Jasper scoffed, shoving me in the arm.

I laughed.

"Are we going to play or what?" I asked, changing the subject.

We began throwing the ball back and forth to get warmed up.

"Hey Bella, are you playing?" I called.

"Not today," she answered.

"Oh come on, Bella. Please, we need another player," Jasper begged.

She huffed and shut her book. She climbed off the ground and came over to us. It was always the same teams; Emmett and Bella against me and Jasper.

We played for most of the afternoon. I guess if you called it playing. Mostly we just goofed around. We never kept score or really played. It was more for fun than anything else.

When it started to get dark, we called it a game. Emmett hinted around that both of their parents were at work and they were on their own for dinner tonight. I knew my mom wouldn't care if they came over for dinner, so I invited them and we headed across the field towards my house. Bella, feigning exhaustion, jumped on my back and I carried her to my house. It seemed like one of us always got stuck carrying her at some point. It's not like she was weak or anything. It was quite the contrary. Bella was probably one of the strongest and toughest girls I've ever known. She just liked to be babied sometimes.

We walked through the back door into my kitchen where my mom was making spaghetti and garlic bread. She looked up at the four of us with a disgusted look on her face. I placed Bella back on her feet and glanced between the four of us. I realized why she was looking at us like that. We were caked with dirt.

"I take it you're all staying for dinner?" she asked.

I nodded my head. "Their parents are both at work tonight. I thought they could come here. Is it okay?" I asked.

"I don't mind. You know you are all welcome here anytime," she replied. "Just can all of you please go wash up? You're filthy."

I laughed, knowing my mom too well. I led the way up to the bathroom and we all washed our hands and faces at the same time. We ended up having a water fight more than actually getting cleaned up. Water was flying all across the bathroom and we were getting soaked. We thought it was fun, until my mom yelled at us and warned us not to make a mess. After a few more snickers and a couple more splashes we stopped and got a towel to clean up the mess. Once we got the bathroom most of the way cleaned up, we went downstairs and waited at the table for dinner to finish.

My dad made it home just in time to eat with us. He wasn't surprised at all to see my friends at our house for dinner. Sometimes he would joke that he works so much, he was unaware he somehow had three extra kids.

After dinner, we watched a movie in the family room and played a game of Uno. Around ten o'clock, I walked them halfway across the field before we all went our separate ways to home.

This was our typical routine all summer long. It's what was comfortable and what made us happy.

The next day, of course was my thirteenth birthday party. My mom, perpetually thinking I was five years old, made a big deal about me wanting to invite girls to my party. In the past, the only girl who ever came to my birthday parties was Bella. This year, I wanted it to be different.

My dad had a friend who had an indoor pool at their house. He was some rich doctor who worked in Los Angeles most of his life, but moved up here when he retired. He was more than happy to let me use his pool for my party. As much as I knew my mom and dad wouldn't be more than twenty feet away from us, it was worth it to see girls in their bathing suits. Emmett, Jasper, and I had been planning this day for months. To say we were excited would be an understatement. This was the highlight of our existence.

Renee dropped off Jasper, Emmett, and Bella early because she had to go to work. It was fine with me. I needed them here to help me set up.

As my friends began to show up for my party, I was disappointed because none of the girls wore their bathing suits. Even Bella was wearing a tank-top and shorts.

Bella was the only girl I actually had the guts to talk to, so I decided to ask.

"Why didn't you wear a swimming suit? This is supposed to be a pool party and none of the girls wore their suits."

She rolled her eyes at me. "Edward, we all wore our suits. We just wore clothes over them. We're girls. We're self-conscious about the way we look, especially around boys."

"That's stupid. We all want to see them."

She gave me a disgusted look.

"Then do me a favor and take off your clothes so all the other girls know they don't need to be afraid to swim."

"Are you crazy? I'm not going first."

"Please, Bella. My party is going to be ruined if none of the girls swim with us. If they see you get in, maybe they will too."

"Right, like everyone follows what I do."

"Please," I begged.

She sighed heavily. "You owe me big time for this."

I smiled excitedly. "Thanks, B."

I jumped back in the pool with all the boys and waited. Slowly, Bella pushed her jean shorts down her legs. I watched as many of the other girls sitting around the pool watched her with admiration. I saw Bella take a deep breath, before she pulled her tank-top over her head. My breath caught in my lungs and there was a strange feeling in my stomach at the sight of her in a bikini top. I heard some of the boys in the pool with me whistle and make gasping noises. For a split second, I got the urge to hit them. This was Bella they were whistling at. She shouldn't be whistled at.

I looked back at Bella, trying to push the thoughts my friends were having about Bella out of my mind. With a red face, Bella walked across the floor and slowly slipped into the water. In about thirty seconds Mike and Eric were swimming across the pool towards her. It kind of made me mad, but Bella didn't seem to mind. She was all smiles and turned into a giggly girl. It was strange seeing her like that.

Slowly but surely the rest of the girls did get in the pool. I was so thankful for Bella helping me out.

Jessica and Lauren were very flirty with me and Jasper all afternoon. They would squeal and hang all over us if we got too close to the deep end of the pool. It was the first time I'd actually touched a girl who wasn't Bella. I kind of forgot my parents were nearby for a while and got a little touchy-feely with Lauren. I was reminded they were nearby when my dad looked down at me from the edge of the pool and gave me that warning look. I was good from then on; at least I tried.

At the end of my party, I was more than happy. Everything turned out perfectly thanks to Bella. If it wasn't for her taking the first step, none of the girls would have gotten in the pool. She always pulled through for me.

Lauren gave me a hug goodbye and whispered in my ear for me to call her sometime. I was elated that she wanted me to call her. This was definitely a good thing.

My mom drove Jasper, Emmett, and Bella home after we finished cleaning up. We pulled in front of their dark house and let them out and I got out of the car, to tell them goodbye. Jasper and Emmett ran to the front door to be the first one to the remote. Bella walked slowly behind them.

"Hey, Bella," I called. She stopped and turned around. "Thanks for today."

She smiled, ducking her head slightly. "Happy Birthday, Edward," she said, before walking through her front door.

The remainder of the summer was much the same. The four of us would hang out in the field and explore the forest. Most nights they'd eat dinner over at my house. A few times my mom would drive us into Port Angeles, so we could watch a movie at the theatre or just hang out at the mall. There really wasn't a whole lot more we could do.

I'd been talking to Lauren on the phone a few times since my party. I finally got the guts to invite her over to hang out with us one day. I was excited to have her over. I really liked Lauren and I thought she liked me too.

I dressed in my nicest clothes and doused myself with my dad's cologne. I even used mousse in my hair. My mom couldn't keep the smirk off her face as I waited nervously for Lauren's mom to drop her off.

"So what are you kids planning to do today?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Jasper and Emmett will be outside waiting for us. We'll probably just hang out or maybe go for a walk through the trees."

"Will Bella be with you guys?" she asked.

"I assume she will. She normally is."

"You don't think it'll be a little awkward with you having Lauren around?" she wondered.

"Why would it be awkward? It's just Bella. Everyone knows I'm friends with Bella."

"I was only curious," she defended.

"Bella and I are just friends. She's like my little sister, Mom."

"If you say so," she said under her breath. I ignored her comment. Bella and I would never be anything but friends.

Lauren's mom pulled up in front of my house and I met her out front. After introducing myself to her mom and both of our moms talking for a moment we were set free. I walked Lauren out to the field where my three friends were.

"Why are we going out here?" Lauren asked.

"This is where I hang out every day," I answered. "These are my friends."

"I thought we would be doing something a little more exciting," she commented.

I was suddenly stricken with nervousness. She obviously didn't like it here. How can I make this better? We walked up on Jasper and Emmett throwing a football back and forth and Bella in her normal spot among the daisies reading a book.

"Hey, Edward," Jasper greeted. "You look nice, Lauren."

"Thank you," she accepted with a smile. I could have smacked myself. Why hadn't I said anything nice about how she looked? I was the one who was supposed to compliment her. She was here with me.

"Hey are we going or what?" Emmett called from across the field. We had plans to go for a walk through the trees and Emmett was obviously anxious to go.

"Go where?" Lauren asked.

"For a walk in the trees," I answered, pointing out towards the woods.

"I don't know if I want to. Will I get dirty?" she worried. I heard Bella snicker.

"You'll be fine. We won't go far," I assured. I glared over at Bella who had yet to look up from her book.

I took Lauren's hand and led her out towards the trees with Jasper and Emmett.

"Bella, are you coming?" Emmett called. Part of me hoped she wouldn't. What my mom said about it being awkward got to me and I worried that maybe she was right. Unfortunately, she did come. She ran to catch up with us.

"Why do you smell funny?" Bella asked, wrinkling her nose. I cleared my throat, feeling slightly embarrassed. "How much cologne did you put on, Edward?"

"Bella," Jasper warned.

"What? He put too much on and it's burning my nose."

"I think he smells nice," Lauren argued. I gave her a bashful smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Bella rolling her eyes.

Bella ran out in front of us and did her signature cartwheels across the log we had to cross. It was only a small ditch below the log and could easily be crossed without it, but we liked to pretend it was a drawbridge or something.

"I'm not crossing that," Lauren warned. "I'll fall and get dirty."

"No, you won't," I assured. "It's perfectly safe and I'll hold your hand the entire time to help you."

"Come on, Edward. What's taking so long?" Bella asked from the other side of the log.

"Shut up, Bella!" I yelled. Out of anger, she walked farther into the trees without us. It was a rule that we stay together if we went into the trees, but I guess she didn't care this time.

After what seemed like forever, Lauren made it across the log. I was trying to be patient with her, but she was being a little prissy. Everywhere we went, she was so worried about getting dirty or falling down. I caught Jasper and Emmett rolling their eyes a few times at the way she was acting. I could tell she didn't like being out here. I should have taken her to a movie or something normal instead of out here.

When we reached the creek it got even worse. She complained about the ground being muddy, about being cold, about the smell of murky water, and even the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind. I was beginning to get very annoyed by her.

"Bella!" Emmett shouted. She wasn't at the creek when we got there and I could see the worry cross Emmett's face.

We waited for any sound from her but there was nothing. He called again, yelling even louder than before.

"We should look for her," Jasper suggested. "Let's split up." Emmett and Jasper headed further into the trees, while Lauren and I stuck to the creek. We searched for what seemed like forever. It was beginning to get late in the day and there was still no sign of her. I could still hear Emmett and Jasper calling for her in the distance.

"Bella!" I shouted. "This isn't funny. You need to come out."

"Edward I want to go back to the house," Lauren whined.

"We have to find Bella first," I explained.

"Let her brothers find her. I want to go back."

"I'm not going back until I find her," I refused.

She sighed. "Then I'm going back without you." I let go of her hand, letting her know she was free to go whenever she wanted. She stared at me with a shocked expression. "She isn't your responsibility, Edward. You don't need to be out here searching for her."

"She is to my responsibility. She ran off because I got mad at her. I have to keep searching. She could be lost or hurt and it would be my fault."

"What if I get lost on my way back? Would you search for me like you are for Bella?"

"You can't get lost. Just follow the creek back until you find the log to cross the ditch. Once you get in the field you'll see my house."

"I didn't say I would get lost," she clarified. "I asked if I did get lost, would you search for me or for Bella?"

I gave her a quizzical look. "Are you planning to purposely get lost so I'll be forced to search for you too?" I questioned.

"You don't get it," she accused, shaking her head. "Bella's only hiding so you'll pay more attention to her and not me. It's all a game to her. She's trying to take you away from me."

"Bella wouldn't do something like that. She's my friend and she would never hurt me," I argued.

"Sure. I'll see you around, Edward." She turned around and started walking back the way we came.

"Lauren," I called. She ignored me. I was tempted to follow her and try to make amends, but Bella was still missing and I had to find her.

I ran further into the woods and called her name repetitively. There was never any answer. I caught up with Jasper and Emmett who had the most frightened looks on their faces. It made me even more scared than I already was.

"One of us should go back and get help. It's getting late and I don't know where else to look," Emmett suggested. We all agreed and I ran back to my house as fast as I could. I burst through the back door out of breath. I was barely able to shout for my mom I was so out of breath from running.

My mom came rushing into the kitchen to see what the commotion was. She could see the scared expressions on my face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"We can't find Bella. We were in the trees and she took off on her own. We've been searching all afternoon and we can't find her." I was almost in tears as I explained what was wrong to my mom.

"Just calm down," she said trying to sooth me. There was no way I could calm down right now. "Sit down for a minute and I'll call her parents."

"I can't sit down. I have to go back out there. Jasper and Emmett are still searching."

She tried to convince me to stay put, but before she said too much I darted back out the door and ran back across the field. I ran as fast as I could through the trees and screamed her name. There was nothing, though.

As it got dark her dad, my dad, and a few other neighbors and police, joined together to search for her. They tried to convince me, Jasper and Emmett to wait with everyone else, but we refused. We were told to stay with our dad's if we wanted to continue to help. Every person searching was given a whistle, and a flashlight.

Before we headed back out into the trees, I saw Bella's mom crying on my mom's shoulder. I wanted to go over to her and promise her I'd find Bella, but I was losing hope we would. We'd searched these woods all afternoon and there was no sign of her. It's like she disappeared into thin air.

I walked through the woods with my dad painfully slow. I wanted to run, but my dad walked. I was getting anxious and more and more worried. I just wanted to hear that whistle from someone, which would mean she was found.

"There has to be somewhere you can think of where she may have gone. Do you guys have a hiding spot somewhere or a fort hidden in the brush?" he asked.

"I don't know," I cried, running my fingers through my hair. "We've looked everywhere, Dad. I don't know where else to look."

"Think, Edward. There has to be something."

I thought real hard trying to remember anything. It hit me like a ton of bricks. The old hunters perch in the trees. We found it a couple years ago, but no one ever hunts here anymore. We used to use it as a hiding spot when we would play hide-and-seek. She had to be there.

I took off running before I could explain it to my dad. He yelled after me to stop, but I didn't. I knew exactly where that old hunters perch was. I could get there without the need of a flashlight.

I ran through the bushes and trees and found the tree I was looking for. I looked up and yelled her name. She didn't answer, but she had to be there. I climbed up the tree and there she was lying on the plank of wood fast asleep.

The relief I felt washed over me. "Bella," I whispered. I shook her shoulder to wake her. She hummed lightly and moved her head just barely. "Bella, wake up." Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up at me.

"Edward?" she whispered. "Where are my parents?"

"There out searching for you. Everyone is. You need to climb down so you can go home," I explained. She pulled herself up and followed me down the tree. I wrapped my coat around her shoulders and held her close to me as we walked back.

"I'm sorry about earlier?" I apologized.

"About what?" she wondered.

"About telling you to shut up," I answered. "I didn't mean it. I didn't think it would cause you to run off."

"You weren't the reason I ran off."

Before I could ask her what she meant my dad caught up to us. He let out a relieved breath and looked her over to make sure she was okay. He handed me the whistle and told me to blow it. Within minutes we were surrounded by people. Bella's dad came rushing over and picked Bella up in his arms to carry her out of the trees. Once we were all out and everyone knew Bella was fine, people headed home.

My mom and dad led me back to our house, while the Swans headed back to their house.

I was exhausted by the time we got home.

"Lauren made it home safely in case you were wondering," my mom pointed out. I hummed in response. I was too tired to care.

"She never said anything about Bella missing. Did she know?" she asked.

"Yeah, she knew," I answered before heading up the stairs. Knowing Lauren never said a thing about Bella missing when she came back to the house made me mad. She could at least let my mom know. She was definitely not the person I thought she was.

I went to bed that night more confused about Bella than I'd ever been. I didn't understand why she ran off the way she did. If it wasn't because of what I said, then why did she do it?

It wasn't the first time she did something stupid that summer. About a month later, she fell out of a tree and claimed she broke her arm. After rushing her to the hospital and x-rays were taken, we found out she was just fine. A few weeks later, she claimed she sprained her ankle while doing a cartwheel. It looked fine to all of us, but we took her to the hospital anyway. Her parents met us there and had her checked out. There was nothing wrong with her ankle and she was sent home. One time she scared us to death when we were swimming in the creek and she pretended to be floating face down in the water. Emmett yanked her from the water and pulled her out only to be yelled at by her for pinching her side too hard. We were all mad at her for days after that little stunt.

The worst thing she ever did happened late that August. My mom drove us into town to buy new school clothes and to see a movie. While we went to watch a movie, she was going to run a few errands and be back to pick us up afterwards.

The movie let out around seven and my mom said she'd be back around seven-thirty, so we had some time to waist. We went across the street to the arcade to play some video games. Bella was supposed to stay with us. I happened to glance up from the game I was playing and saw Bella outside talking to a group of much older teenage guys who were sitting on their motorcycles. I ran outside to see what was going on.

"Bella, what are you doing?" I asked.

"It's none of your business, Edward."

"Who's this, your boyfriend?" one of the guys asked.

"God, no," she gasped. "This is just my stupid brothers' friend who doesn't know how to mind his own business."

They all laughed.

"How 'bout it, Girl? You up for a ride?" the same guy asked.

I glanced over at Bella who had a flirty smile on her face. "You bet I am."

She walked towards him and on instinct I grabbed her arm. "Bella, you aren't going anywhere with them."

"Let go of me. You can't tell me what to do, Edward. I can do whatever I want and you can't stop me."

"Like hell I can't. You aren't going anywhere." I yanked harder on her arm, forcing her to stay with me.

"You are such a jerk. Leave me alone!" she shouted.

"Look, you two kids have fun with your little tug-of-war game. We've got to go. When you don't need a babysitter anymore, come find me." The guy brushed the side of her cheek, while talking. On instinct again I stepped in between her and the guy. He laughed at me, before getting on his motorcycle and taking off with the other guys.

She pulled free from my grip and shoved me. "Why did you do that?"

"Why did _you_ do that?" I shouted. "Are you crazy? You don't know who those guys are. They could have killed you or God knows what. Why would you even consider going anywhere with them? Do you have a death wish or something?"

"What's going on?" Jasper asked, coming up behind us. Bella turned away with tears in her eyes, while I huffed.

"Nothing," I lied. "We just had an argument."

"About what?" he further pressed.

"It's nothing. Everything is fine." He glanced between the two of us, unconvinced by my answer.

"Bella are you okay?" he asked.

She swiped at her tears and turned around to face him. "I'm fine. We should get Emmett. Mrs. Cullen is going to be here in a few minutes." She walked past both of us and headed back into the arcade to get Emmett. Jasper stared at me with questioning eyes. I knew he didn't believe either of us.

My mom picked us up a few minutes later and the ride home was silent. My mom kept asking us questions about the movie and about our day, but none of us really answered her. She could tell something was wrong too.

We dropped them off in front of their house and I climbed into the front seat. The minute the door closed, I couldn't hold it in anymore. "Something is going on with Bella and I don't know how to help her anymore. She's acting crazy. She's going to get herself killed," I blurted.

"Hold on," my mom stopped me. "What do you mean she's going to get herself killed? What happened?"

I sighed, preparing myself to tell my mom the story. "Tonight after the movie we had a few minutes before you were going to be back so we went across the street to the arcade. I happened to look up from my game and saw Bella outside with a bunch of guys who were on motorcycles. She was planning to take off with them. If I hadn't stepped in and pulled her back she would have taken off."

We pulled into our driveway and my mom turned towards me. She gave me this concerned but sympathetic look. I felt like she didn't believe me. "Bella is going through a lot right now," she explained. "I'm sure she'll be fine, but I am proud of you for looking out for her. I think she needs a good friend right now."

"What's going on? Why does it sound like you know something I don't?"

"When the times right, you'll know what's going on," she answered.

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

She placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Everything will be fine." The way she said it made it pretty clear I was supposed to drop it. I was mad because she wouldn't tell me what was going on and she didn't seem to care about what Bella did. I opened the car door and got out angrily. I didn't even help bring stuff in. I ran to my room and locked the door behind me.

The next day, I walked out to the field and only Jasper and Emmett were there. They said my mom called their mom last night and now Bella was grounded. Their mom had to quit her job to stay home with Bella. I felt horrible for getting Bella in trouble. Emmett and Jasper seemed mad at me too.

For the next few days, I didn't go outside. I never saw Jasper and Emmett out there either. Suddenly, the field we very rarely left was abandoned. My mom continually asked if I'd talked to any of them recently. She said I should go over to their house and see them, but I couldn't. I'd gotten Bella in trouble and they were all mad at me now. She assured me they weren't mad at me. She said Jasper and Emmett didn't even know about what happened with Bella. If they didn't know, then why were they mad?

A few nights later, I woke up in the middle of the night. For some reason, I looked out my bedroom window and out in the middle of the field, I saw someone sitting there. By the silhouette of the person, I could tell it was Bella. I was curious why she was out there all by herself in the middle of the night. I put on my shoes and a sweatshirt before heading out towards her.

As I walked out there, I could hear her saying her familiar chant with the daisy. "He loves me, he loves me not." I smiled, getting the sense this was normal Bella again. I walked up behind her and did the same thing I have done thousands of times before.

"He loves you, not," I teased, grabbing the book I knew she had in her lap. I took off running, thinking she would chase after me, like she always did. However, she didn't move from her spot. She stared down at the ground and picked at the grass. I could hear her sniffling and I saw the glistening of a tear on her cheek. My brow furrowed in confusion.

"Bella, what's wrong?" I asked, walking back over to her.

"My parents are getting divorced," she uttered, through her tears.

"What?" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"My mom is moving us to Arizona to be closer to her family. We leave in two day," she cried.

"All of you?" I asked for clarification.

"My dad is staying here, of course. Emmett, Jasper, and I are going with my mom."

"This can't be. What about school? Who am I supposed to hang out with if Jasper and Emmett are gone? I'll have no one to talk to," I complained.

She looked up at me with an angry expression. "You're such a jerk sometimes," she accused. "All you can think about is how this will change your life. What about us? We have to move away from the only home we've ever known. We all have to start at a brand new school alone. We have to live in a city where we don't know anyone. We will never see our dad again," she cried.

Realizing how much of a jerk I was being, I walked over and sat down next to her. I put my arm around her shoulders to comfort her. She rested her head against my shoulder and cried.

"I'm sorry, Bella," I apologized. "It's just sort of a shock. I didn't know there was anything wrong between your parents. They always seem just fine."

"It's all an act. Things haven't been fine in years. All they ever do is fight. We knew the divorce was coming. They've been hinting around about it for a while. It's why I was doing all those stupid things. I thought if something horrible happened to me, they would be forced to care about each other again and they'd stay together. I don't want my parents to get a divorce. I don't want to move." She cried even harder into my shirt.

I rubbed her arm and held her close. "It's okay, Bella. Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe you'll like Arizona. I'm sure you'll make lots of friends, and I know you like the warm weather."

"I'd rather live in ice for the rest of my life if it meant I didn't have to leave," she vowed.

I didn't know how to respond to make her feel better. All I could do was sit with her and continue to shush her. After a while she calmed down.

"Who were you asking the flowers about?" I asked, in an attempt to change the subject and make her feel better.

"No one," she answered.

"Come on, Bella. You've been asking the daisies if someone loves you since you were like seven years old. Who is it? Maybe whoever it is we can go talk to him, and we can find out if he likes you too before you leave. Wouldn't you like to know? I'll help you talk to him. Maybe you can become pen pals with him or something."

"He doesn't like me that way," she answered.

"Why wouldn't he like you? You're fun to hang out with. You make _me_ laugh. For a girl you're pretty strong. You're really pretty. Any guy would be stupid not to like you." I smiled at her as she sat up and looked at me with questioning eyes. I assumed she would take me up on my offer to help her talk to her crush, not what happened next.

Unexpectedly, her lips crashed into mine and lingered there for a few seconds. I was so caught off guard I didn't know what to do. When she pulled away and opened her eyes, all I could do was stare at her with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. Her expression of contentment turned to horrified in a split second.

"I'm sorry. I… I shouldn't… I was…," she stuttered for a moment, before jumping to her feet and running back towards her house. I sat there a little while longer trying to make sense of what just happened. Why did she kiss me? Bella was my friend, nothing more. I can't be the guy she's been referring to all these years, can I? That was my first kiss. I never imagined my first kiss would be with one of my best friends.

I lay in my bed for the rest of the night trying to rationalize why she kissed me. It didn't make any sense. Bella was like my sister. It felt weird.

More importantly, I tried to come to terms with my best friends moving away and never seeing them again. That was the hardest thing to comprehend.

In the morning, I told my mom what Bella told me about her parents. She didn't seem surprised. She knew I was upset about it and did her best to comfort me. She assured me I could still write to the Swans or call them on the phone occasionally. Just because they were moving didn't mean we couldn't be friends anymore. I knew she was right, but it wouldn't be the same.

That afternoon I walked over to their house. Inside, there were boxes everywhere. It seemed so empty with everything packed away. Jasper and Emmett finally admitted to me what was happening. I think they were surprised I already knew. I stayed at their house all afternoon and helped them pack up their room. Bella refused to come out of her room the entire time I was there. Honestly, I was kind of grateful she didn't. I didn't want the awkwardness between us to be seen by Jasper or Emmett. If and when I talk to Bella about what happened, I don't want anyone around.

I found out from Emmett, the custody agreement their parents came to would be that they stay with their mom in Arizona during the school year and then they would spend the summer with their dad. At least I had the summers to look forward to. They weren't moving away permanently.

Bright and early the next morning, they were going to be heading out. I set my alarm clock so I got up in time to say goodbye. As sick to my stomach as I felt, I tried to hide it. I rushed across the field and told all of them goodbye one at a time and made sure I had their new address. They were planning to stay with Mrs. Swan's parents for a while until she could find a job and a place of her own. I wasn't surprised Mr. Swan wasn't around when they left. Jasper said he took them out to dinner last night and they said their goodbye's then. He said his dad even cried, which was something he'd never seen his dad do before. I was surprised by it too. Charlie Swan was the police chief, he wasn't supposed to cry.

Bella was the last person I told goodbye. Everyone else was already in the car, ready to go and the movers had the truck locked up and ready too. She was standing behind the truck with her arms across her chest. I could tell she'd been crying a lot. I knew how much she didn't want to go.

"Hi," I said, coming around the back of the truck.

She looked up at me and forced a smile. "Hi."

"I just wanted to say goodbye."

"Yeah," she said shortly.

"I guess I'll see you next summer."

I began to walk away slowly, but she stopped me. "Edward, about the other night, I didn't mean to kiss you. It was a huge mistake. I was just upset and I don't know what I was thinking. It wasn't you I was referring to with the flower either, if you think it was. It's just something stupid I do for fun."

"Bella," I stopped. "Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal, okay?"

She let out a sigh of relief and forced a smile.

"I should get in the car." She started to walk away and I reached out for her hand. She stopped and looked down at our joined hands with a perplexed look on her face.

"Will you do me a favor while you're gone?" I asked, dropping her hand from mine. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid when I'm not around to protect you."

She scoffed at my request and shoved me against the chest.

"I'm serious, Bella. I know you don't want to move. I know it's hard on everyone. But we will all adjust and get through this. You'll make new friends and eventually want to be there more than here. I'll make new friends too and in the summer we'll all see each other again. If I have to worry about you doing something reckless to punish your parents or in an attempt to get them back together, I'm not going to be able to adjust. I'm going to be too worried about you. Just promise you'll try to like it there and not do anything crazy. Do it for me."

I could see the tears building in her eyes. She took the few steps towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I hugged her tightly, trying to fight my own tears from surfacing.

"I promise," she whispered through her tears.

She pulled away and brushed her tears away.

"Bella," her mom called from the car. "We need to get going."

She nodded her head at her mom. "Goodbye, Edward."

I watched as the car and the moving truck pulled out of the driveway and headed out on the road.

Just like that, my three best friends in the world were gone. It's one thing to lose one friend, but I had lost three.

I started school in September all alone. I did adjust though. I started hanging out with Eric and Mike quite a bit. They weren't my best friends, but they were friends. I tried out for the soccer team and really liked playing. I stayed in touch with Jasper and Emmett through letters and occasional phone calls. I started hanging out with Charlie quite a bit too. He would always let me know if he was going to give them a call so if I wanted to come over and say hi to them I could. Many nights my mom would send me over to his house to bring over a plate of food. That first year they were gone was really hard on him. But just like the rest of us, he adjusted. Emmett, Jasper, and Bella, all seemed to be happy where they were now. Their mom had gotten a really good job working as a secretary for a lawyer. She bought a nice big house and was able to provide everything they wanted. Emmett was playing football and he was really good. Jasper and Bella began taking horseback riding lessons and Bella was even taking Gymnastics. She was always doing cartwheels and flips in the air growing up, so I was sure this was something she enjoyed. I never really talked to her on the phone and if I did send her a letter it was short. I really never knew what to say to her. Most the time, I would just ask her how she was doing and if she liked it there or had any new friends. Her letters back were usually just as short as mine were.

In the summer, they came back. It was almost as if they never left. We fell back into our same games and exploring of the woods. We went into Port Angeles to see movies or go to the arcade. We rode our bikes into town to buy candy. We'd stay up all night in the field telling stories about the school year. It was perfect. However, at the end of every summer when I had to tell them goodbye again it was just as hard as it was the first time. I hated telling them goodbye.

Over the next few years, it was the same routine. I longed for it to be summer all year.

Right before I started my junior year in high school, a new girl moved into the area. While Jasper and I were roaming around town, we came across her. I'd never seen anyone fall in love at first sight until that moment. Jasper was smitten with the new girl almost instantly. Her name was Alice Brandon and she just moved here from New York. Jasper and Alice were inseparable for the rest of the summer.

The funny thing was after they went back to Arizona, Alice and I became really good friends. Alice and Jasper wrote back and forth constantly and she would read almost all his letters to me. He was even able to convince his mom to let him visit his dad for Christmas break. He used his own money to buy a plane ticket and come here. It would have been nice if they all could have come, but it was good seeing my best friend. He really came to see Alice, but we hung out a little too and he spent time with his dad. Charlie was ecstatic when Jasper said he was coming. I'd never seen Charlie decorate for Christmas since they left, but that year he went all out. Mom invited Jasper and Charlie over to our house for Christmas dinner and Alice's parents let her come over too. It's probably the best Christmas I'd had in a long time.

A year had passed now. I was just about to end my junior year in high school. I'd been dating Maggie for a couple months and we went to the prom together. I got a car for my birthday that year. It was just a junker, but I fixed it up and it ran just fine. I was so proud of my car. I had a job working at a car lot washing cars and doing odd jobs, which paid really well for only being a part time job.

Emmett graduated from high school in Arizona and was planning to start college at ASU in the fall. This would be his last year coming to visit during the summer. From now on, it would be up to him whether or not he wanted to visit.

The day they were supposed to arrive for the summer I had to work. I counted down minutes on the clock until it was five. As soon as work was over, I jumped in my car and rushed home. I ran through the house to my room and changed out of my uniform, before running back downstairs and out the back door.

"Edward!" my mom shouted. I stopped, sighing and rolling my eyes. "Where are you going in such a hurry? You've been gone all day and just got home."

"Mom," I whined. "They're back today."

She suddenly got a look of understanding on her face and nodded her head in acceptance. I ran out of our yard and through the field to their house. I knocked on the door a few times, but there was no answer. I didn't understand it. They were supposed to be home today. Where were they?

I slowly walked back across the field and happened to catch movement back in the trees. I smiled, thinking it was probably them. I ran out towards the trees and was caught off guard when I saw a girl doing cartwheels across the log.

"Excuse me, but this is private property," I warned.

She tumbled a few more times, before landing on her feet on the other side of the log.

"Since when has it been private property?" she laughed.

"Bella?" My mouth dropped when I figured out it was Bella. She looked different though. She wasn't the same gangly, tomboy I'd known my entire life. She was a girl, a beautiful girl. She brushed her long dark hair off her shoulders and walked back across the log. I still hadn't said a word to her.

"Edward, are you okay?" she asked, with a slight giggle.

"I'm fine," I assured. "I just wasn't expecting to see you out here."

She stopped right in front of me and cocked her head to one side. Being this close to her and taking in her sweet scent made me dizzy. "You look different," she observed.

"So do you."

"What's with this scruffy chin?" she asked, grabbing my chin with her hand. I smirked, as she shook my chin with her fingers.

"I just haven't shaved today," I replied, jerking my chin away from her.

She smiled and hummed at my reply. "I like it. You look older."

She stepped around me and back towards the field. I followed her.

"Where are your brothers?" I asked.

She sighed. "Jasper took off to see Alice the minute we got here and Emmett is probably on the phone with Rose."

"Who's Rose?"

"Rose is his new girlfriend," she answered, while rolling her eyes.

"Oh," I said. "I went by the house though and no one was there."

"Well, he's either ignoring you or he went somewhere with dad. I really don't know where they are. I'm not their keeper."

"I never said you were. I was just curious."

She stepped up on the old rope swing her dad had built years ago and swung back and forth.

"I can't believe this thing is still standing," she observed, looking at the top of the tree.

I grabbed the rope and stepped up on it with her. She smiled as we swung back and forth, only inches away from each other.

"Charlie knows how to make a good rope swing," I pointed out.

"My dad's pretty awesome, isn't he?"

She rested her arm against my chest in an attempt to keep her balance. "So, both Emmett and Jasper have girlfriends now? What about you? Do you have a boyfriend back in Arizona?"

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Maybe," she answered vaguely.

"Maybe?" The sudden clenching I felt to my chest when she answered maybe was strange. It was almost like I was jealous. What was I jealous of?

It had only been a year since the last time I saw her, but she seemed so different now. She was all grown up and I couldn't help but be a little attracted to her.

"What about you, Edward," she asked, smugly. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Before I could answer we heard the sound of a throat being cleared. We both turned our heads and standing a few feet away was Maggie with her hands on her hips and an irritated look on her face.

"Maggie," I blurted nervously. I hopped off the swing and walked over to her, placing a simple kiss on her cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"I came over to see you and your mom said you were out here with your friends Jasper and Emmett," she explained. "This doesn't look like a Jasper or an Emmett." She turned towards Bella, giving her a dirty look.

"This is Bella, Jasper and Emmett's little sister. I've known her most of my life and she's a good friend of mine."

"A friend, huh?" Maggie asked, unconvinced by my answer.

I laughed. "Maggie, she's like my sister."

"Well anyway, I was hoping we could go out tonight," Maggie suggested.

"Sure," I replied. "I was planning to hang out with Jasper and Emmett, but since they seem to be busy we can go out."

"Good," she accepted with a smile and leaned into my side. "You've been working so much lately and I miss you."

"Sorry, but I need to make money. I've got to work as much as I can."

"I know, I just feel like work is more important to you than I am," she complained.

"What do you want me to do? I can't quit my job."

"I'm not asking you to quit."

I grumbled and rolled my eyes. "I'm not going to argue with you all night. If you want to go out, then keep the comments about me working to yourself."

"Fine," she accepted, but I could tell she was mad about it.

I sort of forgot Bella was still near us while I was arguing with Maggie.

"Bella, do you want to come with us?" I asked. Maggie squeezed my hand in warning.

"I don't want to intrude on your date. I should probably go home and spend time with my dad anyway," she answered.

"You really won't be intruding. Besides, you said your dad was gone with Emmett."

She smiled. "I've got to get going. I'll see you later, Edward."

I hate to admit it, but I was kind of disappointed when she refused to come with us.

I walked Maggie towards my car, hand in hand and we headed out towards Port Angeles. I was distracted all night. I didn't want to be there. Maggie continued to whine about my work schedule and about not spending enough time with her. She said now that my friends were back in town and with my work schedule I was never going to see her. I should have never agreed to go out with her. It was never a problem during the school year because we saw each other at school every day. Now since we were out for the summer she still thinks I need to spend every minute of every day with her.

Finally, after I had dropped her off and went home, Jasper and Emmett were both free. We started a bonfire out in the field and hung out the rest of the night talking about girls and school. Emmett wouldn't shut up about his new girl, Rosalie. I was used to Jasper talking about Alice all the time, but listening to both of them made me sick. They both seemed so in love and all I did was complain about my girlfriend.

We fell asleep out in the field and didn't wake up until the next morning when Bella came out and dribbled water on our faces. We were all mad at her and went chasing after her. She laughed as she ran from us and locked us out of her house. Charlie was the one who finally let us back in after we pounded on the door and yelled her name. However, Bella had locked herself in her room so we weren't able to get her back for what she did. Charlie warned us to leave her alone too, so we were forced to let it go.

I had to work that day, but I wanted to hang out with Jasper and Emmett. I asked my boss if it would be okay if they came in with me to help out so I could leave early. He was more than fine with them helping me out as long as he didn't have to pay them. I assured him they were only there to help me, not to have a job.

Right before we left for the car lot, Bella asked if she could come too. She didn't want to be stuck at home all day by herself. I told her it was fine as long as she helped.

While we washed cars all afternoon, I couldn't stop looking at Bella. She was wearing a simple pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, but there was just something about her and I couldn't stop staring.

At one point, she had the hose and squirted me with it. I ran after her in an attempt to get the hose away from her. She squealed as she ran around to the other side of the car. I laughed as I wrapped my arms around her and picked her up. She continued to scream and try to get free from my grip. I was able to get the hose from her and drenched both of us.

"Hey Edward!" Emmett yelled. "When you're done flirting with my little sister would you like to help us do your job?"

I placed Bella back on her feet and composed myself. Bella walked away from me with an ashamed look on her face.

"I'm not flirting with your little sister," I assured. "Bella's like my little sister too. We were just goofing around."

He looked over at Jasper and they shared a look of disbelief.

"Come on, guys it's Bella."

They never said a word more about it, but I knew what they were thinking.

After we were done, we headed into Port Angeles to hang out. We went to a movie and had some pizza for dinner. We didn't head back home until late. When I pulled into my driveway, I noticed Maggie was sitting on my front porch.

"Great," I complained.

"What's wrong?" Jasper asked.

I let out a heavy sigh. "You guys want to meet my girlfriend?"

We climbed out of my car and she walked towards up with an irritated look on her face.

"Where've you been?" she asked.

"I went out with my friends," I answered, pointing them out to her.

"Why is she with you?" She pointed towards Bella with no attempt to hide it.

The four of us laughed it off.

"I told you, she's my friend. We all went to a movie and dinner in Port Angeles."

"You didn't think to invite me?"

"This was a friend's night, no girlfriends allowed."

"Edward we're going to head home," Emmett announced. "We'll see you tomorrow, maybe."

They headed across the field towards their house, while I was stuck to deal with Maggie alone.

"I don't want you hanging out with her anymore," she demanded.

"What?" I laughed.

"I see how she looks at you. I'm not stupid. I don't want her around you."

"You can't tell me who to be friends with. I've known Bella all my life. She doesn't look at me any way. We're only friends and that's all it's ever been."

"Regardless of what you think, I see it and I don't want you hanging out with her anymore. I don't want you to hang out with those friends either unless I'm with you."

"Fuck that!" I shouted. "I'm not going to stop being friends with Bella or Jasper and Emmett just because you don't want me to."

"You're choosing her over me?" she whined.

"I guess I am." I stepped around her and walked through my front door, slamming it behind me.

I should have felt bad about breaking up with Maggie, but I didn't. I was angry with her more than anything. How dare she try to tell me who I can be friends with and when I can hang out with them. No way did I want a controlling girlfriend. Breaking up with her was the best thing I could have ever done.

The next day, I expected to hang out with Jasper and Emmett after I was done with work, but they were both busy. Apparently, Emmett asked his new girlfriend, Rose, to fly up here, so he went to Seattle to pick her up at the airport. Alice's parents agreed to let Rose spend the summer at their house. Jasper, of course, was with Alice.

I was left bored all afternoon. Both my parents were gone, my dad at work and my mom grocery shopping. It seemed like all my friends were busy doing something else today too. I moped around the house for a couple hours. I attempted to find something to eat, but we didn't have much in the house. I tried to find something on TV to watch, but there was nothing on. I finally got up and went outside to go for a walk. I walked back to the creek and skipped stones for a while. Eventually I ended up just sitting on the ground and picking at the dry grass, while I watched the sun go down.

All of a sudden, I felt someone lean up against me from behind and stick a wet finger in my ear. I jerked away and looked behind me.

"Yuck, Bella," I complained with a small chuckle and wiped my ear. She laughed and sat down across from me.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" she wondered.

I shrugged. "I'm just bored. Jasper and Emmett are off with their girlfriends, so I've got no one to hang out with."

"Where's Maggie?" she asked.

I grumbled. "I broke up with her last night. She's becoming very controlling. She tried to tell me I couldn't be friends with you anymore."

"Oh," she said with regret in her voice. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble."

"It has nothing to do with you. Trust me."

She accepted my answer with a small nod. We sat there in a comfortable silence for a while, both of us picking at the grass and tossing it at each other.

"Don't you have any other friends besides my brothers?" she wondered.

"Of course I do. It just seems everyone is busy or working lately."

"I see."

I sat there thinking it over for a moment. Bella was my friend and since she was sitting out here with me she obviously didn't have anything to do. We could hang out.

"Are you busy tonight?" I asked.

Her head popped up and she gave me a curious look. "No."

I hopped up and put my hand out for her. "Good, let's go?"

She took my hand hesitantly and I helped her to her feet. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know. I just don't want to sit here all night being bored so let's go find something to do," I replied.

"Okay," she accepted with a small giggle. We walked to my car and headed into town.

I suggested the arcade, but she gave me a disgusted look. "What about bowling?"

"Bowling sounds fun," she answered.

We headed to the bowling alley and spent a few hours there having fun and goofing off. Afterwards, we stopped at a small café and had dinner. I forgot how much Bella used to make me laugh and how fun she was to hang out with. I liked spending time with her.

Over the next few weeks, Bella and I did everything together. Jasper and Emmett were always busy, so Bella suddenly became my best friend. We went roller skating, swimming, the movies, there were a couple concerts in Seattle we went to, a few times we went for hikes through the trees like we did when we were younger, and we would go to dinner or to get ice cream quite a bit, sometimes we would just hang out in my room and listen to music. Most the time we would be silly with each other. She'd start food fights or cause me to fall on my ass, she'd hop on my back and make me carry her like she did when we were kids, and there were even times where something would happen and both of us would laugh until we were crying.

Sometimes Jasper and Emmett, along with Alice and Rose would join us in something we were doing, but mostly it was just us.

One night, the six of us were out in the field with a bonfire going and we decided to roast marshmallows to make smores. Bella and I went into town to buy all the supplies and met them back out there. We passed out sticks and marshmallows and started roasting them.

"This seems so disgusting," Rose complained.

"It'll be fun, Babe," Emmett assured. "They're really good."

"Haven't you ever roasted a marshmallow before?" Alice asked.

"I live in the city. There's nowhere to roast a marshmallow," she explained with an irritated tone. Bella and I secretly shared a rolling of the eyes. I hadn't known Rose for long, but she seemed to complain about everything in some way. Emmett never seemed phased by it though. Maybe he didn't notice or maybe he was just used to it by now, but for the rest of us, she was annoying.

Bella was sitting next to me on a log we had pulled over and we playfully kept bumping into each other, which caused my marshmallow to fall off my stick and land in the fire.

"Ah man," I whined. Everyone laughed at my misfortune. Bella meticulously pulled her marshmallow out of the fire perfectly golden and placed it on her graham cracker and chocolate. I watched as she raised it to her mouth and took a small bite, sighing in delight. I could see the slight smile of her lips, while she chewed. She was purposely taunting me.

I grabbed her arm and with a couple squeals and shoves to keep me away I successfully got the smore in my mouth, taking the entire thing from her fingers.

"Jerk," she accused. I laughed, trying to push the sticky marshmallow in my mouth.

"I know. But you still love me, right?" I asked, playfully.

She rolled her eyes, shoving me off the log. Taken off guard, I landed on my back. I was laughing so hard, I couldn't get up.

When I finally did sit up, everyone but Bella was staring at me with a peculiar look on their faces.

"What?" I asked, feeling slightly self-conscious about the way they were looking at me.

"Nothing," Jasper assured. I glanced between the four of them, unsatisfied with Jasper's answer.

"What's going on?" I questioned further.

"Did you just ask Bella if she loves you?" Alice blurted. I saw Jasper nudge her with his elbow and give her a warning look. Emmett cleared his throat and shuffled in his seat.

I laughed it off, acting like it was no big deal. "I've been saying that to her since we were kids. It doesn't mean anything. And usually when I ask I get exactly what just happened. She hits me and rolls her eyes because she knows it's just a joke. Why are you guys acting so weird? Bella knows it's a joke."

I glanced at Bella who was staring down at the fire expressionless. "Bella?" I asked, trying to get her attention.

She looked up at me with a quick smile, before facing everyone else. "He says it to me all the time. I know it's just a joke and he knows he gets hit for it. It's not a big deal," she explained.

"But you two have dating for most of the summer," Rose pointed out. "Are you saying you don't love her?"

I laughed. "Bella and I aren't dating. We just hang out. You guys are always busy doing your own thing, so Bella and I are kind of stuck with each other."

"You're telling us all this time there has never been anything romantic going on between you two?" Alice asked.

"No," I laughed. "Bella's like my sister. I don't think we could ever see each other as more than a friend. Right Bella?"

She nodded her head with a small smile. "Right," she agreed. "We're just friends."

The four of them gave each other unconvinced looks, but didn't ask any more questions.

Bella was quiet for the rest of the night. I don't know if she was upset about what I said or if it was what everyone else thought, but I could tell she was upset. She even called it a night earlier than the rest of us. I tried to offer to walk her home, but she refused my gesture and told me she was a big girl and didn't need my help.

I stayed outside by the fire longer than anyone else did. Suddenly, I had all these thoughts running through my mind. Did Bella think all this time we were dating? Were we dating? I guess in a way most people would probably see it as dating, but she was my friend. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to Bella, but I didn't want our friendship to change. I liked how comfortable we were with each other. If it turned into something more, things would change. Besides, she said she had a boyfriend back in Arizona. Maybe that was why she was uncomfortable with the questioning. Maybe she was worried about that guy finding out and thinking what was going on was wrong.

The next day, I was still so confused about what happened and how to make this better. I didn't have to work at all that day, so I went out to the field and sat down on the swing. I stared off into the distance just thinking and trying to make sense of everything going on in my life. I slowly swayed back and forth on the swing, not paying attention to anything around me.

Out of the blue, someone was behind me and started pushing me on the swing. I lost my balance and started to fall off. I could hear Bella's familiar laugh as she ran from the swing. I jumped off the swing, smirking at our playfulness. I chased after her. In normal circumstances, she would have gotten away. She always won, but I think she wanted me to catch her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and dragged her to the ground. She giggled and fought against me.

"You have really got to stop trying to make me fall all the time," I warned, holding her down on the ground.

"It's not my fault you're clumsy and can't stay on your feet," she teased.

I smirked and rolled my eyes. "I'm not clumsy. You just do everything in your power to make me look clumsy."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "I don't do any such thing," she defended. She bit her lip to hide the smile. For some strange reason, I got the urge to bite her lip myself. I let out a ragged breath and sat up quickly. I ran my fingers through my hair nervously. What was I doing? I can't look at Bella like this.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"No," I assured with a smile. "I was just thinking about what everyone was saying about us last night. Were you as freaked out by their accusations as I was?"

She shook her head and opened her mouth a few times like she wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words.

"I mean, you don't think this is more than just a friendship do you?" I added.

"No, of course not," she answered. "We've been friends for a long time and this is just how we act."

Right," I agreed. "Also you have a boyfriend, so I'm not going to come between you two."

"I don't have a boyfriend, Edward," she revealed.

"But I thought you said you did? On your first day back I asked you if you did…."

"And I said maybe," she interrupted. "I was just trying to be mysterious. I really don't have a boyfriend. If I did, I definitely wouldn't be hanging out with you as much as I have been. I'd probably be in my room writing mushy letters to him like Emmett and Jasper always did with Alice and Rose."

"Oh," I said, unable to think of anything better to say.

She playfully shoved me with her elbow to get my attention. "Do you want to help me freak out my brothers?"

I gave her a scheming smile and nodded my head. "What did you have in mind?"

We jumped to our feet and walked towards her house. Bella had this plan to leave a pregnancy test in the bathroom so both of them thought either Alice or Rose were pregnant. This was going to be fun.

We put the box from the pregnancy test on the bathroom counter and Bella rigged the test to look like it was a positive test in the bathroom garbage. She also found an old book of her mom's about pregnancy and left that sitting on the dining room table.

While we waited for the terrified looks of Bella's brothers, we sat on the couch and watched TV. We were munching on popcorn when we first started hearing them in the kitchen frantically asking Rose and Alice who it was. We were trying so hard not to laugh. Bella had to hide her face in my shoulder so many times so they wouldn't see her giggling.

Unfortunately, our little trick backfired. As soon as Emmett and Jasper were sure it wasn't Rose or Alice who were pregnant, they turned on Bella.

They walked in the living room and glared at the two of us on the couch.

"Get away from my sister!" Emmett shouted with a clenched jaw.

"What?" I laughed.

"How dare you," Jasper said.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"Is this about the pregnancy test?" Bella asked.

"Yeah it is," Emmett answered. "We've already asked Rose and Alice and both of them deny being pregnant. If it's not them, it has to be you. All Bella could do was laugh.

"What the fuck, Guys? Are you serious?" I laughed.

"Someone's pregnant and I know it's not me," Alice cut in.

"It's not me either," Rose added.

Bella leaned into my shoulder, whispering, "oh my God."

I thought this was all going to be a fun little prank, but in a flash Emmett grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me off the couch.

"Emmett, come on," I shouted. "It was just a joke."

"Getting my sister pregnant is not a joke," he shouted back.

There was a loud slam of the front door. We all turned to see Charlie standing there with an angry expression on his face. His hand rested on his gun holster. I was suddenly terrified. My mouth went dry and I couldn't talk.

"What?" Charlie asked, holding back as much anger as possible.

"Dad, it's nothing," Bella assured, jumping in front of him. "It's just a misunderstanding."

"Someone better start explaining what's going on, right now," he demanded.

"I found this in the garbage," Jasper explained, handing his dad the pregnancy test. His nostrils flared as he looked at it.

"Dad, it's not real," Bella explained. He didn't listen though. He lunged towards me and punched me in the face. My head fell backwards from the blow. My hand rose to my nose to stop the blood from flowing.

"Get out of my house and don't ever touch my daughter again," he shouted.

"Dad," Bella cried. "Will you please listen to me? Edward didn't do anything wrong. It was just a joke." Finally, Charlie calmed down enough to listen to her. "I set it up to look like a positive pregnancy test to freak Jasper and Emmett out. I never thought they would actually think it was me. It's ludicrous to think I was the pregnant one. I figured once they both realized it wasn't Rose or Alice, they would figure out that it was just a joke. If you look close enough you can tell it's just a marker."

He looked at the pregnancy test closely and sighed in relief. He drew Bella into his arms and hugged her tightly. "Don't ever do anything this stupid again," Charlie warned. "You had me terrified for you."

"Daddy, I'm not going to get pregnant. I promise."

Jasper brought me a towel for my nose and both Emmett and Jasper apologized for jumping to conclusions.

"Edward, I'm so sorry. I thought you got my little girl pregnant and I reacted," Charlie apologized.

"It's okay. I understand why you reacted. What I don't understand is why all of you thought it was me. Bella and I aren't having sex. I've never even kissed her. I don't know how many times I have to say this but we're just friends."

"Good to know," Charlie accepted.

"I think I should get you some ice for your nose and help you get home," Bella suggested. I nodded my head.

She went to the kitchen and gathered up some ice in a towel. I placed it on my nose and she helped me walk home.

"I don't think that was such a good idea," she expressed.

"I don't think it was either," I agreed. "We'll have to remember not to pull any pregnancy pranks on your brothers from now on."

Bella walked me through my back door and my mom gasped when she saw me.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Uh, well…," Bella began. "My dad sort of punched him in the face." I sat down on the couch and rested my head back. Bella sat down next to me, helping me hold the ice on my nose.

"Charlie hit my son?" my mom exclaimed.

"It was a misunderstanding," I explained. "He thought I got Bella pregnant."

"Excuse me," she gasped again.

I rolled my eyes at the tone of her voice. "Relax, Mom. It's not true. It's not even possible. We were playing a joke on Emmett and Jasper and it got a little out of hand."

"I'm going to have a talk with Charlie," she announced, walking out the front door. I tried to shout after her not to, but she wouldn't listen.

"God, this is so fucked up. First they all think we're dating now they think I knocked you up," I said.

"It's ridiculous," she agreed.

There was an awkward silence between us for a moment. I noticed she kept opening her mouth like she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the right words.

"What is it?" I prodded.

"Just something you said back at my house."

"What did I say?" I questioned.

She looked down at the couch and picked at a loose thread. "You said we've never kissed but you did kiss me when we were younger."

"No I didn't," I argued. Her eyes shot up to mine in confusion. "You kissed me."

She rolled her eyes. "Still, we did kiss."

"A very long time ago, yes," I agreed. "But I really don't want anyone to know about it. If I would have admitted we'd kissed at one point it would have made things worse than they already are."

"You're probably right." Her head dropped and she got that familiar sad look on her face.

"You know you were my first kiss," I admitted. She barely looked up at me through her lashes and I saw a small smile spread across her lips.

"You were mine too."

"I was so scared," I confessed. "I had no idea what to do or what to think. I was always sort of upset my first kiss was with one of my best friends. But now I'm glad it was with you."

Her head rose slightly. I placed my hand on her cheek and slowly moved closer to her lips. Bringing up our first kiss made me want to kiss her again for some reason.

In a flash she jumped from the couch. "You have a bloody nose. I'll get you another towel." She rushed to the kitchen and retrieved a towel. I put my head back and pinched my nose off.

Bella stayed with me until my mom got back. She walked through the door and slammed it behind her in anger. She walked right past us and stormed off to the kitchen, saying something under her breath. We could both tell she was mad.

"I think I should get home," Bella said.

I nodded my head and squeezed her hand. Her eyes were drawn to our hands for a moment, and I saw her take in a large breath. "Thanks for staying with me."

She smiled and nodded her head before leaving.

I found out later Charlie and my mom got in a huge argument about what happened. She sent my dad over to talk to him once he got home. My dad came home laughing and had quite a bit of fun teasing me about what happened. My mom didn't find his teasing funny and neither did I.

Thankfully, the following day everyone had forgotten about what happened and didn't bring it up anymore. The only reminder I had was the black eye. Charlie apologized profusely for hitting me, every time he saw me.

For some reason after the fiasco of our practical joke, Bella became withdrawn and barely came down from her room. I thought maybe she was mad at me, but Jasper assured me it had nothing to do with me. He said it was family issues and Bella was taking it hard. She needed her space to deal with it. He wouldn't tell me what exactly _it_ was about, but in a way he seemed upset too.

Almost an entire week went by before I saw Bella again. On the rare occasion Jasper and Emmett left Rose and Alice, the three of us went into Seattle for a concert. We had a blast and stayed out later than we planned to. When we got home, all of us were exhausted. Jasper and Emmett pulled themselves out of the car and up to their front door. I drove the short distance to my house and clumsily pulled myself up the stairs to my room. I happened to glance out my window when I was taking my shoes off and saw what appeared to be Bella sitting out in the field all by herself. At first, I wanted to go out there to see what she was doing, but then I thought about what Jasper said and decided she needed her space to figure out whatever _it_ was.

I lay in bed, staring up at my ceiling for a long time. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to know what was wrong with Bella. Maybe she needed someone to talk to. I could be that person for her if she wanted.

I slowly walked out towards her and sat down. She didn't seem fazed by my presence. It's almost like she knew I would be there. She was wrapped up in a blanket and sitting on a sleeping bag, while she stared up at the stars.

"The last time I found you sitting out here in the middle of the night you told me your parents were getting a divorce and you were moving to Arizona," I reminded, hoping to get her to talk to me.

"Did you know in Phoenix you can never see the stars?" she said, never looking away from the sky. "The city is too bright and the stars can't be seen. Not like they can here."

"I didn't know that."

She finally turned her head to look at me and smiled bashfully. "I probably don't make any sense, do I?"

"You don't need to make sense. I always understand you."

"Then what do I mean?" she challenged, with a skeptical look on her face.

"You're confused about where you belong," I answered. Her jaw dropped when I answered her.

After a few moments of finding her composure she stared back up at the stars. "My mom got remarried," she revealed.

"What?" I asked, astonished. "When?"

"Two weeks ago. She's only known him for about a month and she already married him. She didn't stop to think about what we thought or how we would react. She just did it."

"Wow," I gasped.

"She's making us choose where we want to live. Of course Emmett is going back to Arizona with Rose to start college, but he's been talking about finding his own place. Jasper already told dad he wants to stay here."

"What are you planning to do?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. No matter what I choose I'll be losing someone. If I go back to Arizona, I'll lose Jasper and my dad. If I stay here, I'll lose Emmett and my mom. I'm stuck in the middle. I don't have anyone to make my decision easy like Emmett and Jasper do. They have Alice and Rose guiding their decision. Whatever my choice is, will make it look like I love one or the other more."

I thought about her dilemma for a moment tying to help come up with a solution. "Stay for me," I suggested. She slowly turned her head towards me. "You have been more of a friend to me this summer than Jasper and Emmett have and I don't want to lose you. I don't want things to change. I want my best friend to stay with me."

We stared into each other's eyes for a moment, before slowly leaning in towards each other. Our lips barely touched and we both pulled away quickly. I placed my hand on her cheek, drawing her in once again and kissed her lips fully. My lips moved with hers and our tongues touched every time we opened our mouths. It was strange how my lips felt whole when they touched hers. It's like all this time they'd been waiting to kiss her again.

While we continued to kiss, I wrapped my hand around her neck and slowly lowered her to the ground. Her fingers tangled in my hair as she drew me further in. My hands ventured down between her breasts and rested against her stomach. Our kissing broke when she gasped. I began to kiss her neck with open mouth kisses. She tasted so sweet. I never wanted to remove my lips from her skin. I heard her sigh and gently moan as I ventured across her shoulders and down her collarbone.

I slipped my hand under the hem of her shirt and pulled it up over her head. To my surprise, she didn't have a bra on. She lay completely exposed from the waist up for me. I gasped at the sight of her. She was absolutely gorgeous. All I wanted to do was touch her. I looked into her eyes, silently asking for permission. She wrapped her hands around my neck pulling me down to her lips. I took that gesture as a yes. My hand palmed her breast and squeezed gently. Her back arched into my hand. I felt like I was about to combust.

I grabbed the back of her knee and hitched it around my hip. She met me with surprise when I felt her other leg wrap around me as well. I knew she wanted me. In a flash of thoughts I started to doubt myself. I was still a virgin and really had no idea what I was doing. Was she a virgin too? What if I didn't live up to her standards? What if I didn't do this right? Did she really want to have sex with me? Did I want to have sex with her? Bella was my friend. This would change everything. Did I want things to change between us?

All those questions went unanswered and out of thought when she fisted my t-shirt in her hands and pulled it off of me. Her fingers traced down my chest and stopped at the hem of my sweats I was wearing.

We were both breathing heavily and nervously. I leaned up to look at her face. I searched her face for any sign of hesitation. She looked scared and nervous, but there was no doubt in my mind she wanted me.

I sat up, and slowly pulled off her pants. I kept waiting for her to tell me to stop, but she never did. We kissed for a long time and explored each other's bodies with our hands, holding off on the inevitable for as long as we could. I wanted her to be sure.

I pulled down my sweats just enough to remove my dick from my pants. I rubbed against her slit many times trying to find the courage to actually penetrate her. I'm not sure which one of us was more nervous. We covered our nervousness up with kissing. If we were kissing and our eyes were closed, we didn't have to face the scared looks on both of our faces.

I finally reached down and grabbed my dick to ease it in to her. I barely stuck the head inside and she sucked in a ragged breath, through her clenched teeth. Her eyes clenched shut and she looked like she was holding her breath.

"Do you want me to stop?" I asked, barely breathing myself. She shook her head vigorously.

I inched my way in, only getting about half way. I didn't want to hurt her. I tried to push through a little further and every time I did, she would clench around me and whimper. Being inside her warmth and tightness was unbearable. I only thrust into her a couple times before I released with a loud moan. My body shook from the orgasm rushing through my body.

When I pulled out, she breathed a sigh of relief. I looked down at her face and saw the tiny bit of wetness forming around her eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked, brushing her tears away. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," she whimpered. "I'm okay." I kissed her lips a few times, before lying down next to her. I brought her into my arms and held her close.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," I whispered.

"You didn't. This is exactly how I always pictured my first time. I wanted it to be in this field, with you. Everything was perfect."

I rubbed her cold arm and pulled the blanket over the top of us. After a few minutes, we sat up and put our clothes back on. We curled up in the blanket wrapped in each other's arms until we were both fast asleep.

In the morning, when I woke up and came to the realization of what I'd done, I felt sick. How could I do this to her? If her brothers or her dad ever knew, they'd kill me. Why did I do this? Everything was going to be fucked up now. This changes everything.

I carefully pulled out from underneath her and rushed back to my house before anyone saw us together. I ran up the stairs and shut my door quietly. I fell back on my bed letting out a frustrated sigh and running my fingers through my hair. "What have I done?" I said aloud.

I got up and went to the bathroom to shower. I had a few spots of blood on my dick, which made me feel even worse. Not only had I made her bleed, but I also didn't use any protection. This was really bad. I already knew what her dad and her brothers would do to me if I got her pregnant. All I could do was pray she didn't get pregnant. Honestly, that was the only thing that kept running through my mind. If she ended up pregnant, I was a dead man.

I put on my uniform and rushed downstairs to go to work. I was already running a little late and I needed something to distract my mind. I got out to my car and threw my stuff in the back seat. Just as I was about to get in, I saw Bella standing in front of my car. I froze.

"Hi," she said nervously.

"Hi."

We stood there in an awkward silence glancing at anything but each other.

"You were gone," she said.

"I have to get to work," I explained. "I'm already late."

"Oh."

"I'll uh… I'll see you later." I hopped in my car and pulled out of my driveway as quick as I could.

I was so mad at myself for what I'd done. All the way to work I kept hitting my steering wheel and grunting in frustration. How could I be so stupid?

I was distracted all day and got yelled at a few times for not paying attention. After work, I couldn't go home. I couldn't face her. I couldn't face Jasper and Emmett with a straight face. They'd be able to see right through me and see the guilt I had. They would know.

I drove all over town and ended up sitting by the river until well after the sun had gone down. By the time I got home, my mom had worked herself up into a frenzy. She was sure something bad had happened to me. I assured her I was fine and just had some stuff to do. I told her I was too tired for dinner and went straight to my room. I tried to sleep, but I just couldn't seem to. There was too much going on inside my head to sleep. I paced my bedroom floor, I took another shower, I tried to distract myself with TV, and I even tried to read a book. Nothing seemed to help.

For two weeks, I barely slept. Every time I would close my eyes, I would see visions of Bella. Sometimes they were good, other times, she had a baby in her arms or she was covered with blood. Those are the dreams that freaked me out and made it almost impossible to sleep.

I avoided Bella at all costs. I didn't even talk to Jasper and Emmett. It's not like they really noticed anyway. My mom kept asking me what was wrong, but I couldn't tell her.

While at work one day, I was in the middle of washing a car when I saw Bella walking towards me. I closed my eyes and shook my head a few times. She was gone when I opened them again. Not only was I having visions of her in my sleep but now while I'm awake too. I had to figure this out for my own sanity.

When I got home, I walked out to the field and sat down next to the tree. I picked a daisy and plucked the petals from the flower in an attempt to kill time. I waited for her to come. I knew she would.

Just like I expected, she came walking out to the tree. I stood up to face her. We kept a good ten feet in between us.

"I know why you've been avoiding me," she began. "I'm not pregnant, Edward. It was a stupid risk we took, but I'm not pregnant. You have nothing to worry about."

Inside I was rejoicing in relief. "Bella what happened was a mistake. We shouldn't have done what we did."

"I know it was a mistake. We just have to be careful now."

I looked down at the ground with a regretful expression.

She let out a saddened sigh. "You mean it shouldn't have happened at all, not because it was a risk."

"Bella," I began.

"Don't try to explain. I never expected you to feel the same way I feel about you. I was kidding myself to actually think you did. I'm just the little sister, nothing more." I could see the tears falling down her cheeks and I could hear the sobs in her voice.

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"But you did."

"I'm sorry."

"Just answer me one thing. You asked me to stay for you. Did you mean it? Do you want me to stay?"

"I just want you to be happy," I answered. "It's not up to me what you choose. Whatever you decide is for you, not me."

She sniffled a few times and nodded her head, before running back to her house.

I felt like shit. I'd just broken her heart because I wasn't man enough to accept my own feelings and face her family. I abandoned her, when she needed me the most. Lately every time I'm with her, I hurt her. I can't do that to her anymore. It was best to let her go and let her live in Arizona with her mom far away from me.

I thought getting things out in the open and breaking things off with Bella would make life easier, but it didn't. It just got worse. I still couldn't sleep. I still hated myself for hurting her. I barely ate. I didn't talk to anyone. I got fired from my job for using the wrong type of wax on a very expensive car. I was an utter mess.

A few days after I got fired, Jasper called and asked if I wanted to go out with all of them for lunch. Emmett and Rose were planning to drive back to Arizona the next day and this would be our last chance to see them for a while. Even though I was nervous about Bella being there I agreed to meet them at the diner.

I showered and shaved and try to muster up all my courage to drive to the diner. I pulled into the parking lot, took a deep breath and walked to the front door. As I walked in, I saw Emmett's head sticking up over the booth in the corner. I walked over and internally sighed in relief when I didn't see Bella there.

"There you are," Emmett said. "I thought you weren't going to show."

"Why wouldn't I show? You're getting ready to leave. I want to say goodbye and good luck in college," I answered with a little bit of irritation in my voice.

"Are you okay, Man?" Jasper asked.

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed in frustration. "I got fired from my job," I blurted.

"Whoa, when did this happen?" Jasper asked.

"A couple days ago," I answered. "I messed up really bad and my boss had every right to fire me."

It became really quiet and they all mumbled their sympathies.

"It's not a big deal. I can find a different part time job for the school year. There has to be something."

"I'll be looking for a job too," Jasper announced. "We should start looking together. I'm going to need to find a decent car I can afford and be able to take my girl out on a proper date every once in a while." He pulled Alice into his side and smiled at her affectionately. She giggled and rested against his shoulder. I rolled my eyes and looked away.

"Can I get you kids anything to eat?" the waitress interrupted.

Everyone ordered burgers and fries while I just ordered a coke. The thought of eating greasy food made me sick to my stomach.

"Do you know if Bella is coming today?" Alice addressed me, once the waitress left.

"How should I know?" I snapped.

"Well you two have been pretty close all summer. I figured you might have talked to her today," she replied timidly.

"Bella isn't doing so well," Emmett cut in. "She's been really upset the last few days."

"About what?" Rose asked, with concern in her voice.

Emmett shrugged and sucked in a long breath through his teeth. "I couldn't tell you. She's pretty much secluded herself in her room. I don't know if it's about going back to Arizona or what."

"But didn't your parents tell all of you to choose where you wanted to stay?" Alice asked. "Why would she be upset about going back if she doesn't necessarily have to go back?"

"I think it's something more," Jasper added. "She just won't tell us what it is."

"Poor Bella," Alice said. "I feel so bad for her. She seemed so happy earlier this year. Now she seems so sad."

"I wish there was something we could do to cheer her up," Rose wondered

"We should do something for her," Alice agreed excitedly. "Maybe we could just give her a little gift or something to let her know how much we all care about her."

"That's a great idea," Rose agreed. "Edward, what type of gift should we get her?"

I stared at a spot on the table in a complete daze. Why was I letting her leave? I needed her more than I could ever imagine was possible. If I let her walk out of my life, I would never be whole again. She was hurting because of me and I was hurting because of me. I'm an idiot.

"Edward," Rose repeated.

"Edward, are you okay?" Jasper asked.

Coming back to reality, I looked up at the four of them giving me concerned looks. In an instant, I pushed my chair back and ran out of the restaurant. I jumped in my car and sped across town to make it home.

I pulled into her driveway and ran up to the door. I pounded on the front door and yelled her name. She didn't answer. I ran around back of the house and shouted up to her bedroom window. She didn't come to her window either. I looked all around the house for an open door or window in a panic.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her standing out in the middle of the field among the tall dry grass. I sighed in relief and ran out towards her. As I came up behind her I slowed to barely a walk. I could hear her small cries. I noticed she had one of the wild daisies in her hands, and she was picking off the petals one by one.

"He loves me not," she cried, picking the last petal and throwing the demolished little flower to the ground.

"He loves you," I said from behind her. She gasped and turned around in surprise. She stared at me with a shocked expression. I walked towards her, taking her face in my hands and brushing her tears away. I looked deep in her eyes so she would know how serious I was being. "_I_ love you and I don't want you to go."

"I can't stay if all I'm going to be to you is a friend."

I breathed a chuckle and shook my head slightly. I pressed my lips to hers in a passionate, deep kiss. I rested my head against hers and looked into her eyes. "Does that answer your question about whether I want you as a friend or more? Maybe it's always been more between us but I was just too stupid to see it. But I'm not going to run from it anymore. I need you. I love you, Bella."

"I love you too," she whispered, before breaking out into happy tears.

We kissed again, holding on to each other so tightly.

"This is going to take some getting used to," Emmett interrupted, breaking us from our kiss. I turned us towards the four of them, who were all staring at us with amused expressions.

"Whatever Emmett," Jasper laughed. "It's not like we didn't know this was going to happen someday. Remember all the times we used to talk about how Edward was going to be our real brother? I always knew he would be."

"Yes, but seeing my little sister kiss one of my best friends is a little odd," he argued.

I laughed, holding Bella closer to me.

"I take it this means you won't be coming back to Arizona with me and Emmett?" Rose asked.

I looked down at Bella, who looked up at me and smiled. She turned back to Rose. "No Rose, I'm staying here." I let out a relieved sigh. I reached down and picked her up. Her legs wrapped around my torso and I kissed her lovingly on the cheek.

"My Bella is staying with me," I announced.

There were gagging noises coming from Jasper and Emmett. "Yeah, maybe you're right. It's going to take some time to get used to," Jasper agreed.

"We'll take these two away and give you guys some privacy," Alice offered, pushing Jasper, while Rose pushed Emmett.

I placed Bella back on her feet as we watched them walk out of the field. I turned back to Bella and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "This is going to be interesting, you know? I have a feeling my friendship with Emmett and Jasper may be tested. They may seem fine with this new development right now, but we saw what they did when they thought I got you pregnant."

"Are you doubting us being together then? Do you think it's a bad idea?"

I smiled, brushing my knuckles across her cheek. "Never," I assured.

"But I don't want to come between you and my brothers' friendship," she worried.

"Bella," I chuckled, bringing her into my arms. "I'd choose you over them."

She smiled proudly and wrapped her arms around my neck to kiss me again.

I wasn't sure what our future held, but right now I was happy and so was she.

**Thank you so much to all who read and voted in the "Pick A Pic contest". My other story "The Wish" won second place in the judges choice category. Both this story and the other didn't do too bad in the public vote either. Tkegl is who created both banners I wrote for and she very kindly personalized both of them for me. She won second place in the public vote for her banner for this story as well. To check out both banners they are on my profile.**


End file.
